One more arrested in fake pilot scam

The Delhi Police have arrested another pilot who allegedly furnished fake marksheets to procure a commercial pilot licence (CPL). With this, the total number of pilots arrested in the scam has reached 24.

Anirudh Kiran Deshpande, 23, was arrested from his house in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj following action into a complaint lodged by the chief vigilance officer at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said police.

Ashok Chand, DCP (crime) said Deshpande used forged marksheets to convert his Philippines CPL into Indian CPL. “Deshpande obtained his foreign CPL from Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, Tulsa, Okhlahoma in 2008. After coming to India, he appeared for two papers and cleared only one,” Chand said. He came in touch with one OP Malhotra outside the DGCA office, who assured him of help in obtaining the CPL and for Rs 3 lakh, Chand said.

In July 2010, Malhotra submitted Deshpande’s marksheets to DGCA, which detected the fraud during scrutiny of his documents.